Social activists, academics and former politicians have held discussions on the establishment of a new political group to maximize people power and to voice their disgust at the way party politics currently functions in Taiwan.
“The idea is still in its early stages, but one thing is sure: The group will not be a conventional political party like the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT),” former executive director of the Judicial Reform Foundation Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), who has been actively involved in the campaign, told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Among the groups and individuals involved in the discussions were former DPP chairman Lin Yi-xiong (林義雄), Academia Sinica research fellow Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and activist group Citizen 1985, Lin said.
Those at the meeting hope the deliberation of policy, rather than party interests and elections, will be placed higher on the national political agenda.
The campaign was initiated for a number of reasons, Lin added.
He said that “the energy generated by social movements appears to have reached its peak and has not received sufficient positive feedback after three decades of work.”
Social activists “have not witnessed any positive effects of competition between political parties despite the two regime changes Taiwan has been through,” Lin said.
Advocates for social change have mostly intentionally stayed away from party politics, Lin said, adding that most found that this approach did not help them achieve their goals.
Lin said most people he talked to were especially disappointed at the DPP, a traditional ally of social activists and not-for-profit organizations, saying that the party was afraid of being “too progressive” on various social issues and hurting its election chances.
“The truth is that the DPP has now fallen behind civil groups on issues of environmental protection, pension reform and the cross-strait service trade agreement, to name but a few,” Lin said.
The planned political group has no timetable on its establishment and naming, but does not rule out participating in the legislative elections in 2016 to vie for at-large legislative seats, Lin said.
With regards to the group’s position on independence and unification, an issue that is almost certain to be raised, Lin said that the group would take a different approach to the issue.
“The consensus we’ve had so far is that our sovereignty should not be interfered with by exterior forces. Safeguarding Taiwan’s sovereignty is more important to us than the independence-unification issue,” he said.
If established, the group could have the potential to compete for voter support with the nation’s main parties, the DPP, the KMT, the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) and the People First Party (PFP).
Lin said if the group was to participate in elections, it would try to garner nonpartisan support rather than pattern itself after the DPP-TSU model.
“The TSU simply chipped voter support away from the DPP, which is not helpful in changing the domestic political map,” Lin said.
We don’t want that to happen,” he added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and